


Sunrise Hill

by Dreamshaper



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Faking a Relationship, For the Holtzbert Secret Santa, Pining, and ghostbusting, includes bed sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 05:57:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: During a bust at a haunted hotel, Erin and Holtzmann end up sharing more than a bed.





	Sunrise Hill

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dr_jillianholtzmann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr_jillianholtzmann/gifts).



> Merry X-Mas / Happy New Year to dr_jillianholtzmann - I hope you'll enjoy this gift :D

While Erin’s fascination with Kevin had been short-lived, and had died fairly quickly once she had fully realized how dumb the man actually was, Holtzmann still found him quite fascinating, albeit for other reasons than the ones Erin had had.

So, it was nothing unusual to find her somewhere in the general vicinity of Kevin’s desk when she took one of her rare breaks from her work; and this was where Erin found her on this day, as well, the engineer so enthralled by whatever Kevin was doing that she barely registered Erin moving to her side.

“What is he up to this time”, Erin whispered, not wanting Kevin to realize that now, both Holtzmann and she were observing him; she doubted he would have noticed even if she had yelled though, since he seemed quite enthralled by the conversation he was having on the phone, Erin hoping that this wasn’t a possible client, but fearing that this was exactly whom Kevin was talking to.

“I’m not sure”, Holtzmann whispered back, “I _think_ he is talking to a client? But it might also be a telemarketer.”

“You’re in Manhattan”, Kevin was saying, sounding so confused that it made Erin grimace, “…no? You’re not in Manhattan. But you have a ghost… Yes. A ghost. We are the Ghostbusters.”

“Okay, no, they’re gonna hang up”, Erin fretted, ignoring Holtzmann’s half-hearted protest as she hurried to Kevin’s desk and took the receiver from him; he let it happen, only smiled at her dopily, Holtzmann pouting when Erin took over the call and robbed her of her entertainment.

“Yes, hello, sorry”, Erin said, Kevin picking up a paper clip and starting to unbend it, “um, this is Dr Erin Gilbert, from the Ghostbusters.”

“Up until this moment, I wasn’t even sure I got the right number”, a female voice told her, sounding so relieved that it made her smile, “the man I was speaking to seemed nice but a bit… lost. Um, sorry, I’m Sylvia Withall, from Sunrise Hill Bed and Breakfast, and I think we’re haunted?”

“You’ve got the right number”, Erin reassured her, noting down the name the woman had given her, “sorry about Kevin, he tries, but…  he’s still learning.”

Upon hearing his name, Kevin looked up at her and smiled happily; Erin smiled back at him, then asked the woman for details about the haunting, noting down what Sylvia was telling her, frowning a bit at one of the woman’s requests.

“It’s one of our busiest seasons, you know”, Sylvia said, Holtzmann by now having moved closer as well to listen, Erin acutely aware of how close to her the engineer was now, “and the owner doesn’t want it all too known that you guys are gonna show up here? So if you, I don’t know, could come undercover?”

“Um, sure”, Erin gave back, not quite sure what to think of this, but figuring that it somewhat made sense, and that ghosts probably weren’t good for business unless someone wanted to attract a certain crowd, “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

“Thank you”, Sylvia said with audible relief, “I’ll email you all the information, please let me know when you can be here.”

“We’ll call you”, Erin reassured her, then gave their e-mail address to the woman before she ended the call; and not even a minute later, the mail was there, Erin raising an eyebrow as she looked at the information.

“Huh”, she then let out, Holtzmann leaning closer as well to get a look, “this is a couple’s retreat. Poor people there, getting scared by a ghost. Holtz, can you get Abby and Patty? We need to figure something out, they want us there undercover, so their guests won’t freak out.”

Holtzmann let out a vaguely agreeing noise and wandered off to find the other two, while Erin looked at the information again, quite sure that the four of them would come up with a good idea to help the owner out.

* * *

“I don’t think this is a good idea”, Erin said a short while later, with a doubtful look at the other Ghostbusters, “posing as a couple? Really?”

“They did say undercover, right”, Abby replied with a shrug, “and it is a couple’s retreat. Whoever goes there will have to blend in, and posing as a couple will make that much easier.”

“Except that none of us are a couple”, Erin pointed out, not quite sure what to think of this, even though she had to admit that her best friend had made a good point; Abby shrugged again, figuring that couldn’t be too hard, and from how Patty and Holtzmann were nodding along, they apparently agreed with this approach, as well, leaving Erin outnumbered.

“Two of us should stay here in anyway just in case a call comes in while the other two are at that hotel”, Patty pointed out, “if the ghost doesn’t make an appearance right after our arrival there. Who should go?”

“Let’s have luck decide”, Abby suggested, “we’ll get Kevin’s hat, throw our names in, draw two and those two will go.”

“That sounds fair”, Erin nodded, “I’ll go get Kevin’s hat.”

“And I’ll get something to write”, Abby said, Erin missing the look she exchanged with Patty; and by the time Erin came back, Abby had four little folded pieces of paper in front of her, making a show of putting them into the hat before she shook them around a bit, the others watching how she then reached into the hat and pulled out the first folded square of paper.

“This has a kind of Hunger Games vibe”, Holtzmann commented as Abby held the paper aloft, then unfolded it, with more drama than Erin would have thought possible; the researcher grinned at her, then cleared her throat, clearly eager to make the most of the reveal.

“And the first Ghostbuster chosen for this adventure iiiiis”, she said, and Erin found herself holding her breath, “Jillian Holtzmann!”

“Yay, road trip”, Holtzmann said, gleefully rubbing her hands and earning a smile from the physicist, “awesome. Who’s coming with me?”

“Let’s find out”, Abby beamed, and reached into the hat again; she pulled out another folded paper and, with the same flourish, unfolded it, taking note of how Erin shifted on her seat a bit as she waited for the reveal.

“Your road trip buddy iiiis”, she said, making Patty chuckle with how she was drawing this out, “Erin Gilbert!”

“Oooh”, Holtzmann let out while Erin felt her face heat up, at the same time thrilled and mortified – after all, they would have to pretend to be dating, if only for the sake of their client, and while that thought made her heart beat faster, she also felt awkward about it, wondering if this really was a good idea.

_Don’t be ridiculous,_ she then scolded herself, _you can handle a few days of pretending to be Holtzmann’s girlfriend, without freaking out about this._

Holtzmann getting up from the couch and moving in front of her distracted Erin from her thoughts, and she raised an eyebrow when the engineer went down on one knee in front of her, as if she was about to propose, the physicist giving her best to ignore the shiver which ran up and down her spine at the sight.

“Dearest Erin”, Holtzmann said, Abby and Patty snickering while Erin felt her cheeks heat up, “will you do me the endless honour of being my fake girlfriend for the duration of this bust?”

“Dork”, Erin replied, earning a toothy grin from the engineer, “but since you ask so nicely, yeah, okay, sure. Fake girlfriend it is.”

She smiled a smile which felt just as fake as the relationship she just had agreed to; Holtzmann let out a “woohoo!”, then came to her feet again and surprised the physicist by pressing a somewhat loud smooch on her cheek, her blush deepening in response until her face had taken on quite the lovely shade of crimson.

“I’ll go pack”, Holtzmann declared, for once not commenting on Erin’s facial colour, “and no worries hot stuff, I’ll bring a pyjama, too.”

“Okay”, Erin squeaked, then realized how high her voice sounded; she cleared her throat, then tried again, glad that her tone had returned to a more natural register.

“Okay”, she repeated, “I’ll go pack up, too, and then call Sylvia so she’ll know we’re coming.”

“Road trip”, Holtzmann gleefully sang in response, making the physicist smile; and then, both of them hurried off to their respective rooms to pack their things for the trip, Patty making sure that they were out of earshot before she turned to Abby, smirking at the researcher when she spoke up.

“You rigged it, didn’t you”, she said, not even bothering to make it a question, “made sure Erin and Holtzy would go.”

“I totally did”, Abby freely admitted, making the historian laugh, “I believe we’ve watched them pine for each other long enough now. Maybe spending time at a romantic getaway hotel as a fake couple will actually turn them into a real one.”

“Man, I hope so”, Patty said, shaking her head, “cause you’re right, this endless pining has to stop. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll lock them in a closet together, I swear.”

Abby snickered and nodded, then the two high-fived as Patty congratulated Abby for pulling her plan off like this, both of them hoping that it would work out as they both hoped and would finally put an end to the way Erin and Holtzmann were pining for each other.

* * *

Since they were supposed to be undercover, they didn’t take Ecto-1, but got a rental car instead; Erin was fine with letting Holtzmann drive, and with letting her pick the music for the drive, finding herself relaxed and smiling despite the prospect of having to fake a relationship as the engineer sang along with the radio during the drive.

“So how are we going to do this”, she wanted to know when they stopped at a gas station to get snacks and drinks, “are we going to be all lovey-dovey?”

“As opposed to what?” Holtzmann wanted to know, raising an eyebrow at her while she snatched up a can of Monster and one of Pringles, the physicist grimacing at her choice of drink, “you don’t want to do the whole we’re-about-to-break-up-and-are-trying-to-rescue-our-relationship-here thing, right?”

“I don’t know”, Erin gave back, shrugging, “I’ve never done that before. But now that you say it like that, it sounds way too complex. We might slip up.”

“And we are supposed to be undercover”, Holtzmann said, making her nod, “so slipping up would be bad. We don’t have to make out right there in the lobby or something, but maybe holding hands and stuff…”

She trailed off, suddenly finding it hard to look Erin in the eye, and from how her free hand came up to tug at her ear, Erin could tell at once that she was getting uncomfortable, the stilted tone of her voice when she continued only another sign the physicist knew quite well by now.

“But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, or make you do something you don’t wanna do”, the engineer let her know, Erin feeling touched by her words, “so… Whatever you’re fine with, I’ll do that, I’ll leave that all to you, alright?”

“Don’t worry”, Erin reassured her, placing one hand on her shoulder, glad when the gentle touch made Holtzmann look at her again, “it’s going to be fine, we’re friends and we both know what we’re doing, right?”

“Right”, the engineer replied with a brave nod, Erin giving her another smile; as she went to pay their purchases though, her smile faded, and she held back a sigh, the mere thought of walking around holding hands with Holtzmann making her palms tingle.

_Don’t forget, it’ll be fake,_ she reminded herself as she paid and received her change, then moved to join Holtzmann again, the engineer already waiting at the car for her, _so don’t get too excited at the idea of holding hands. It won’t be real._

“Thanks babe”, Holtzmann said when Erin handed her share of drinks and snacks to her, the physicist feeling her cheeks heat up again at being addressed this way, glad that her voice was stable when she replied.

“You’re welcome… honey?”, she said, making the engineer smirk, “are we practising pet names?”

“We should”, Holtzmann nodded, “are you okay with _babe_? Or would you prefer something else? Snookums maybe? Or schmoopie-doopie? Or how about honeybuns?”

“Babe is fine”, Erin made herself say, cursing her tendency to get flustered whenever Holtzmann did or said something like that, and reminding herself again that this would be fake, just a ruse for the sake of their client, “if you call me schmoopie-doopie in front of other people, I’ll fake-dump you, just so you know.”

“Awww, you fake-break my heart”, Holtzmann said dramatically, making Erin laugh; she shook her head as she put on her seatbelt, the engineer giving her a toothy grin and a wink before she started the engine again, Erin leaning back in her seat and allowing herself to relax again as Holtzmann drove back onto the highway.

She still felt nervous about faking a relationship, now regretting that they had agreed to going undercover so quickly; she told herself though that it would be alright, they both knew what they were getting into, and it would only be for a few days, perhaps even shorter than that, if they caught the ghost quickly.

Surely it all would work out just fine.

* * *

 

_Oh no. How could I forget about this?_

Erin gulped as she took in the room, not because it was dirty or ugly, it was very clean and nice – but because it had a double bed, because of course it did, what with this being a hotel aimed specifically at couples.

She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t thought of this, hadn’t realized that this would happen; the thought of sharing this bed with Holtzmann made her insides tingle in a decidedly not unpleasant way, and she hoped that this wasn’t showing through her face, telling herself that it might make Holtzmann uncomfortable, and making the engineer uncomfortable was the last thing Erin wanted – especially after how worried the younger woman had been about doing the same thing to her.

“Oh”, Holtzmann let out next to her, clearly not having thought of this happening either, “um… I’m supposed to be really smart, but up until right now, I didn’t realize we’d have a double bed.”

“You’re not just smart, you’re brilliant”, Erin told her, “and I’ve been told that I am, too, but I didn’t realize it, either.”

“I can sleep on the floor”, Holtzmann offered, making Erin raise an eyebrow, “it’s okay, I’ve done that before, during long nights at the lab.”

“No”, Erin said with a shake of her head, “this is ridiculous, I will not let you sleep on the floor. It’s just sleeping in the same bed for a few nights.”

“I really wouldn’t mind”, the engineer reassured her with a small shrug; Erin shook her head again, now glad though that Holtzmann had brought a pyjama, not wanting to imagine what it might have done to her if the blonde would have ended up sleeping naked right there next to her.

“Just don’t snore”, she said, in an attempt to distract herself from the mental image of a naked Holtzmann in the bed in question, “I’ll poke you if you do.”

“You’re officially allowed to even nudge me, in case I snore”, Holtzmann let her know with a small laugh, making her smile again as well, “and just so you know, if you snore, I’ll poke you, too.”

“I don’t snore”, Erin told her, “but, according to Phil, I tend to kick sometimes. So I apologize in advance for that.”

“Ah”, Holtzmann let out, and Erin found herself wondering if she had imagined the flash of dismay on the younger woman’s face when she had mentioned her ex or if it really had been there; and all at once, she felt awkward again, fingers fidgeting as she looked around, desperate for a distraction.

“So, um”, she said, while the engineer shifted from one foot to the other, “should we go look around? Maybe we can find the lady I spoke to.”

Holtzmann nodded her agreement, and Erin was grateful that they had something to do now; and so, they left the room together, and as they went back to the lobby, figuring they might find their contact there, she found herself wondering why things had started to feel so awkward when she had mentioned her ex-boyfriend.

_Remember, you’re just friends,_ she told herself as she looked around, wondering if the lady she had spoken to would recognize them, _you’re not in a real relationship, you’re just faking it for this client._

Apparently, Holtzmann was thinking of the fake relationship as well, since she took hold of Erin’s hand, somewhat hesitatingly though; eager to reassure her that it was all good and fine, Erin squeezed her hand a bit, then smiled at her, glad when the engineer returned the smile at once.

As they walked to the reception desk together, Erin took note of how nice it was to hold hands with Holtzmann like this; the bit of difference in their height made it oddly easy to do so, neither of them having to reach up uncomfortably, quite the difference to how it had felt when she had done this with Phil, the few rare occasions he had actually had been willing to do this sort of public display of affection.

“Hi, hello”, she distracted herself from how good this felt as they reached the reception, the lady giving them a pleasant smile, “we’re looking for Sylvia Withall? We… spoke to her about our reservations and wanted to thank her for how amazing our room is.”

“Dr Gilbert”, the woman beamed in reply, holding out her hand, “I’m Sylvia, welcome, I’m so glad you made it. This is your colleague?”

“Yes, Dr Holtzmann”, Erin introduced, Holtzmann shaking the woman’s hand as well, “so… should we speak somewhere in private?”

Nodding, Sylvia asked them to follow her, then led them into what appeared to be a sort of break room and kitchen for the employees, offering them a seat there, both women declining when she asked if they wanted tea or coffee.

“I’m really glad you’re here”, she said once she had sat down as well, “there have been several reports of the haunting so far, no one has gotten hurt yet, but…”

“But better to be safe than sorry”, Erin finished for her, making her nod; eager to make her feel better, the physicist smiled at her, then reassured her that Holtzmann and she would make sure the ghost would be taken care of before it actually would hurt someone.

“Oh, and”, she then remembered a not unimportant part of their job at this place, “we kept in mind what you said about doing this undercover, and checked in here as a couple on holiday. Just so you know.”

Sylvia appeared quite grateful at that, thanking them for doing them this favour; and then, she asked if she should take them to where the ghost had been sighted the last time, the two women agreeing at once, figuring that it would be a good place to start.

“I got the PKE meter”, Holtzmann said, patting her backpack, “so we’re ready when you are.”

Nodding, Sylvia came to her feet and asked them to follow her; she led them back out through the lobby, then pointed a path out to them which led around the hotel to the back of the building, explaining that it led to the hotel’s garden as they followed it.

“The garden is open from eight a.m. until eight p.m.”, she explained as they walked, “we used to have it open around the clock, but then a few times, people got… a bit too close during the night hours, so we now close it down over night. A couple snuck out anyway two days ago and encountered the ghost.”

She led them through the garden, to a secluded spot at the far back of it, Erin having to admit it was a good place to get intimate – it was far enough from the hotel that it couldn’t be seen from any of the rooms, and there were high bushes at the park’s edge, making sure no one from the outside could peer in, either.

“Makes sense that they’d go here for some snuggle time”, Holtzmann commented, showing she had similar thoughts, and making the physicist nod, “do you know at which time they were here?”

“At about eleven”, Sylvia let her know, watching curiously how Holtzmann pulled the PKE meter from her backpack, “they came to the receptionist all freaked out and scared. Management didn’t want to call you guys at first even after that, but we convinced him that it would be the right thing to do.”

“Good job”, Holtzmann said, Erin nodding her agreement; then, the engineer switched on the PKE meter and moved to the spot where the ghost had been sighted, not surprised when the PKE meter reacted almost immediately, the LED arms rising and spinning slowly.

“Got some residue”, Holtzmann said as Erin moved closer as well and peered at the display, Sylvia watching in fascination, “yup, there definitely was a ghost here.”

“Uh-huh”, Erin let out as she spotted something on the ground a few feet away, “look over here.”

She led the way, Holtzmann close behind her, while Sylvia hung back a bit, taking a step closer as well though when the engineer let out a snort of laughter, curious to see what was amusing the blonde.

“Of course you’d find the ectoplasm”, the engineer said with another snicker, earning a _look_ from Erin, and another one for when she elaborated, in response to the questioning look Sylvia gave her.

“Erin is our ectoplasm magnet”, she let the other woman know, “if a ghost spews slime, you can be sure it will hit her.”

“Oh be quiet”, Erin said, playfully shoving the engineer, earning another snicker from Holtzmann; not quite sure what the correct reaction to this was, Sylvia just smiled politely, then asked if she could help them with anything else.

“Not for now”, Erin told her, “just, um, could you make sure that we can enter this garden after sundown? It’s our best bet to find that ghost.”

“Yes, sure”, Sylvia nodded, “I’ll make sure the evening staff is informed that you have permission to be in the garden. Um, good luck?”

“Thank you”, Erin smiled, making the younger woman smile back at her; and then, the three returned to the hotel building, Sylvia getting back to her work while Erin and Holtzmann returned to the room, eager to make sure they’d have everything ready for the evening’s ghost hunt.

* * *

Since they still had a few hours until sundown, Erin and Holtzmann decided to have an early dinner at the restaurant which was part of the hotel; and as they went there, Erin once more thought of the relationship they were supposed to be having, and took hold of Holtzmann’s hand, trying hard to ignore the flash of warmth she could feel rush up her spine when the engineer gave her a bright smile in response.

She smiled back at her, feeling her cheeks heat up and internally groaning at herself for her tendency to blush; clearly, Holtzmann didn’t mind though, squeezing her hand as they entered the restaurant and made their way to one of the free tables.

“Good thing this place has no issues with same sex couples”, Erin said once they had sat down and a waiter had brought them menus, having retreated again after having taken their drink orders, “just imagine if one of us had had to come here with Kevin.”

“He would have been thrilled”, Holtzmann said with a little snicker, making Erin smile again as well, “poor guy wants to bust ghosts so badly. But hey, I would have thought you’d be thrilled to date him, even if it’d just be fake-dating.”

“Nah”, Erin gave back, telling herself that she was just doing this for the sake of keeping up the fake relationship as she reached over the table and grasped Holtzmann’s hand again, just in time for the waiter to see as he returned with their drinks, his speed impressing the redhead quite a bit – but then, she reasoned, it was still quite early, and not many tables were taken yet, “I still think he’s nice to look at, but I wouldn’t be happy dating him. I find intelligence very attractive, you know, and while Kevin is pretty and nice, well… he is… not quite on the level I’m looking for in a significant other.”

“Ah”, Holtzmann let out, finding herself wondering if Erin actually hadn’t defined that potential significant other as male on purpose or if it had been a coincidence and nothing she should dwell on; lately, she had noticed that Erin was reacting differently to her flirting, less awkward and more flattered, but still she told herself to not rush anything, not even now, when they were pretending to be a couple.

Erin was still holding her hand though, she noticed, and before she could stop herself, she ran her thumb over the back of the physicist’s hand, in a small, but gentle caress; and Erin’s reaction was immediate, her breath hitching noticeably while her cheeks flushed, something she tried to hide not very successfully by grabbing her glass with her free hand and taking a rather long sip from it.

She didn’t pull back though, and even though Holtzmann cautioned herself again to not overthink this, to not interpret what she wanted to happen into it, she found herself quite happy at this development, unable to stop the smile curling her lips.

Erin was still flushed, but she smiled back at her, and still didn’t pull back her hand, and Holtzmann felt even happier – only for the waiter to reappear and ask if they knew what they wanted to eat, Erin pulling back her hand as she cleared her throat, whatever moment the two had been sharing ruined by the man’s appearance.

“Um, I’ll take the chicken”, Erin said after barely having looked at the menu; apparently though, the restaurant didn’t offer any variations of chicken, since the waiter just nodded and wrote this down, then looked at Holtzmann, the engineer ordering a medium rare steak with a baked potato.

“You’re gonna be so stuffed after that”, Erin teased once the waiter had walked off again, “if you fall asleep on me later in the garden, I’ll poke you.”

“Aw”, Holtzmann let out, earning a smile from the physicist, “I won’t fall asleep, no worries, hot stuff.”

“Good”, Erin said, fighting the sudden urge to reach over the table and grasp Holtzmann’s hand again; instead of doing so, she took another sip of her drink, suddenly not so sure anymore that the whole “faking to be dating” thing really had been a good idea, realizing quite a bit too late that she only was making it harder for herself to ignore the strange things Holtzmann was making her feel for as long as this would have to go on.

* * *

Hours later, Erin had to admit that at this point, she was the one in danger of falling asleep; they had gone to the garden after sundown, and had been sitting there now for hours, waiting for the ghost to show up, the physicist slowly giving up hope though, letting out a sigh as she checked her watch and saw that it was past one in the morning.

She looked at the PKE meter Holtzmann was holding, not surprised to see that it wasn’t picking up anything new, either; it just showed the residue they already had noticed earlier, and Erin let another sigh, giving Holtzmann a look of dismay.

“I guess that ghost isn’t showing up here tonight”, she said, making the engineer nod, “should we wait, or head back to the room?”

“I think you’re right”, Holtzmann gave back, with another look at the PKE meter, “seems like the ghost doesn’t feel like showing up tonight. But just in case it does…”

She dug through her bag and pulled out something which looked like the lovechild of a baby phone and a toaster, Erin raising an eyebrow at the device, not even having to ask though, Holtzmann giving her proud _I-made-something-awesome_ smirk as she waved the device around.

“This”, she let Erin know, “is the ghost-phone. I used parts from a broken PKE meter and a baby phone, if it works the way I want it to, it should start transmitting to its sibling when a ghost shows up. Fair warning though, I didn’t get to test it yet, so I can’t say for sure it will work.”

“I’m sure it will”, Erin smiled, earning a bright smile from the younger woman, “all the things you build work Holtz, you’re brilliant.”

To the physicist’s surprise, Holtzmann gave a somewhat bashful grin in response and even blushed a bit, a reaction quite unlike the one she normally showed whenever someone complimented her, the engineer usually just giving a toothy grin and a shrug, Erin finding herself wondering if she ever actually had seen Holtzmann blush before.

“Shall we go back, then?” she decided not to comment on this though, an enormous yawn interrupting her before she could go on, “and get some sleep? I’m quite tired by now.”

Holtzmann nodded, and hid the ghost-phone in the bushes, where hopefully no guests would find it; once it had been concealed to her satisfaction, Erin and she returned to the room, the redhead retreating to the bathroom there to brush her teeth and change into her pyjamas, feeling nervous again as she realized that it was almost time to share the bed with Holtzmann.

_Don’t be ridiculous_ , she then told herself, even though her heartrate had increased quite a bit, _it’s Holtz. One of your best friends. You can handle sleeping next to her for a night or two._

Any thoughts which were about distinctly more than friendship were quickly banished to the farthest corners of her mind, focusing on brushing her teeth perhaps a bit more than strictly necessary, and taking her time with it, until she could be sure no inappropriate ideas would make a reappearance.

Squaring her shoulders, she finally decided that she was ready to go to bed and left the bathroom; Holtzmann already had changed into her pyjama, Erin not surprised the slightest to see that the top and bottom didn’t match, the two women smiling at each other as the engineer moved into the bathroom.

While Holtzmann was busy in there, Erin got into bed, having to battle inappropriate thoughts again when she realized that not only would they share the bed, but the blanket, too; she took in a few deep breaths, again telling herself not to be ridiculous, feeling quite in control and confident again by the time Holtzmann returned from the bathroom.

“Wow”, the engineer commented as she took note of the single blanket as well, “they really take the romance thing seriously here, huh? I hope you’re not a blanket hogger.”

“I’m not”, Erin reassured her, almost saying that Phil had been the one to hog the blankets the last time she had shared her bed with someone; she remembered though how awkward things had been when she had mentioned the man the last time, and held the comment back, Holtzmann smirking at her as she got into bed, leaving Erin glad that she hadn’t brought her ex up again.

_Not that he was such a great guy anyway,_ she thought to herself as Holtzmann got comfortable next to her, the physicist suddenly acutely aware of how close to were to each other now, actually able to feel the engineer’s body heat, _far from the best boyfriend he could have been. I bet Holtz would be a better girlfriend…_

Realizing which direction her thoughts were taking, Erin quickly cut them off, reminding herself that Holtzmann and she were just pretending, for the sake of their client; hoping that she wasn’t blushing again, she asked if the engineer was ready for lights out, earning a vaguely agreeing noise from her.

Glad that the darkness would hide a possible blush, Erin switched off the light, then said “good night”, once again all too aware of how close to her Holtzmann was, beneath the same blanket; Holtzmann wished her a good night, as well, astounding Erin with how fast she seemed to fall asleep afterwards, her breathing slowing down just a few minutes later.

_Well, Holtz clearly isn’t affected by lying so close to you_ , she thought to herself, not wanting to admit to herself that she felt disappointed at this; pushing those thoughts to the other inappropriate ones, she tried to relax, despite how close Holtzmann was to her, falling asleep as well a short while later.

* * *

In the next morning, Erin felt well-rested and relaxed when she woke up, pleasantly warm and quite content… until she realized that the pleasant warmth wasn’t just coming from the blanket, her eyes snapping open at once.

During the night, and in her sleep, she had ended up moving closer to Holtzmann, her breath hitching in her throat as she realized that she was now spooning the smaller woman; one of her arms was beneath Holtzmann’s pillow, somewhat trapped by the weight of the younger woman’s head, and her other arm was actually hugging the blonde across the waist.

_Oh God oh God oh God_ , she fretted, lying perfectly still, only feeling more awkward when she realized that one of her legs was entangled with Holtzmann’s,    in a way which made it pretty much impossible for her to get up without waking the engineer.

_No, you can do this,_ she told herself, _just move slowly, so she won’t wake up, it’d be so embarrassing if she did and…_

Holtzmann grunted, and Erin froze again; and from how the engineer’s breathing changed, Erin could tell at once that she had woken up, her heart seeming to stop for a moment before it hammered in her chest so fast she worried Holtzmann might actually feel it.

She held her breath as she felt the blonde move, not having the slightest idea how to react; and then, Holtzmann had turned and their eyes met, and Erin realized too late that she could have tried faking sleep, swallowing heavily as all she could do was stare at the engineer wide-eyed.

“Good morning”, Holtzmann said, clearly not disturbed the slightest by having woken up like this; Erin could only stare at her for a few more seconds – before she forgot all about keeping inappropriate thoughts at bay, her impulse control failing her completely as she leaned in, closed the gap between Holtzmann and herself, small as it was, and kissed her.

If Holtzmann hadn’t expected this – and Erin was fairly sure that the engineer hadn’t, what with how hard she had been working to keep her attraction to the blonde hidden – she didn’t let possible surprise slow her down, kissing Erin back at once; making use of the fact that her arm was still across Holtzmann’s waist, Erin pulled her closer, unable to hold back a little content noise when she felt the engineer return the embrace.

Then, she realized what she was doing, and pulled back, her eyes going wide; finding herself too breathless to speak after the kiss – _wow_ , she thought to herself, despite how mortified she suddenly felt, _Holtzmann’s certainly good at this_ – she breathed in deeply, only for the blonde to shake her head before Erin had the chance to say something.

“If you say that you’re sorry now or that you didn’t mean it”, the engineer said, Erin feeling her cheeks heat up as this had been exactly what she had been wanting to say, “I’m gonna cry. Like, really cry, with real tears.”

“Please don’t”, Erin gave back, the mere thought of being responsible for Holtzmann crying making her heart clench up, “so… um… this means you’re… not mad? That I just kissed you out of nowhere?”

“Mad?” Holtzmann repeated, sounding so surprised that it made Erin smile despite how embarrassed she still was, “Erin. Sweetheart. Brilliant, most beautiful, ass-kicking physicist I ever have laid eyes on.”

At this barrage of compliments, Erin’s blush deepened, and she smiled shyly, not quite sure if she should take this at face value or if Holtzmann was exaggerating; before she could ponder this though, the blonde continued, her eyes never leaving the physicist’s as she spoke.

“You kissing me was the best thing ever”, she let her know, earning another shy smile, “frankly, I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since you walked into the lab at Higgins. I just didn’t dare to because, well… I was kinda afraid I would freak you out.”

“Which was not an entirely unjustified fear”, Erin said with a small sigh, making the younger woman smirk, “but certainly you exaggerate, since I walked into the lab? You didn’t even know me.”

“Oh but I did”, Holtzmann told her, smiling at the confused look she received, “I read the book, remember. So I knew your mind, kind of, and I meant it when I said you’re brilliant. And all the other stuff. So… I knew your mind, and then you walked in and this amazing mind was packaged just as amazingly so… yeah. I wanted to smooch you right away.”

Erin had to swallow heavily before she could reply, her throat oddly tight all at once; before Holtzmann could start to worry though, the physicist smiled at her, unable to keep a slight tremble out of her voice when she finally dared to speak up.

“That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me”, she let Holtzmann know, immediately forgetting all her worries about having kissed her like that out of the blue, “I… I don’t know what to say. So I think I’ll just kiss you again…?”

“I like the sound of that”, Holtzmann told her, smiling brightly; Erin took a moment to smile back at her, then leaned in for another kiss, another small content noise coming from her when Holtzmann pulled her closer as this second kiss deepened fairly quickly, Erin to her own surprise finding herself getting quite excited quite quickly.

Clearly, Holtzmann had similar feelings, since she pulled Erin closer as they kissed, her hand rubbing gentle circles on the physicist’s back; she responded by letting out another content sigh, barely noticing what she was doing as she moved, until she was practically on top of Holtzmann.

She had a moment to wonder if perhaps, she was too heavy for the engineer, and was in danger of squishing her; then Holtzmann pulled back from the kiss and moved so she could kiss her throat, and all thoughts were forgotten as Erin shuddered, wondering if that had been a lucky guess or if Holtzmann somehow had known that being kissed on the sensitive skin there turned her on beyond reason.

Thanks to her arousal, she thought nothing of it when she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, and when she felt the fine hair at the back of her neck rise; when her ears popped though, she realized that something was happening which had nothing to do with passion, and her eyes flew open, just in time to let her take note of the blue glow forming next to the bed.

“Holtz…!” she brought out, the engineer not wasting precious seconds by mistaking the alarm in her voice for lust; she pulled back just enough to see what was happening – and then, before Erin realized what the blonde wanted to do, Holtzmann had tightened her embrace around her and flipped her over, so that the physicist ended up beneath her, just as the ghost let out a dreadfully loud and high shriek.

And then, it started spewing slime, Holtzmann squeezing her eyes shut as the sticky, cold substance rained down on her; it wasn’t the first time she got slimed, but it was the first time that it was so much, and she vowed to herself that she’d never make fun of Erin again for this happening to her, grimacing as she felt the slime slide into her pyjama and down her back and sides.

Finally, after what seemed like way too long, the onslaught stopped, and Holtzmann quickly rolled off of Erin, giving her a chance to move; and the physicist didn’t waste any time, rolling off of the bed and diving across the room to the duffel bag the blonde had brought.

The ghost shrieked again, clearly having an idea that nothing good would come from that bag; before it could try to stop Erin from getting to it though, the physicist had reached it and yanked it open, then pulled the proton pack out, not bothering to strap it on, simply leaving it lying on the floor as she flipped the switch and aimed the proton wand.

Shrieking again, the ghost rushed at her, and Erin quickly fired; and while the proton stream wrapped around the apparition, Holtzmann hurried to help her, grabbing the second proton pack, having a second to realize that Erin had taken the one the engineer normally used, but not bothered much, the ghost only howling louder when Holtzmann fired as well and the second stream caught it, too.

“Erin”, the engineer called out, raising her voice to be heard over the crackling of the streams, “the trap is strapped to your pack, quickly, before it breaks free!”

Nodding, Erin precariously balanced the proton wand on her thigh with one hand which she groped for the trap with the other one; it took some fumbling, for longer than she would have liked, but to her relief, she did get the trap out before the ghost had a chance to get out of the streams and wreak more havoc.

She didn’t have as much practice with tossing it out as Holtzmann had, but the ghost was close enough to make the toss somewhat easy, and so, she managed it perfectly, the trap landing right beneath it; still keeping the proton wand balanced on her leg, she found the control panel for the trap with her other hand and slammed her palm onto the button, feeling the familiar and very welcome rush of adrenaline when the trap snapped open and began sucking the ghost in.

“Yes”, Erin cheered, grabbing the proton wand with both hands again now; the ghost howled in dismay as the trap kept sucking it in, one final cry coming from it before it vanished inside the metal cylinder, the only understandable word it had said during the whole encounter.

“Whew”, the physicist let out once the trap had closed and the ghost had been taken care of, the proton streams stopping as Holtzmann and she stopped pushing the triggers, “that was quite the surprise. Did it really say…?”

“Yeah”, Holtzmann gave back, to Erin’s amusement and slight bafflement blushing a bit, “it said _lust_ before it got sucked in. I guess that’s what it was attracted to, the lady did say that it showed up when that other couple was getting close in the garden.”

“So I heard it right”, Erin said, shaking her head, “huh. A lust-attracted ghost, that’s new.”

“And I think the fact it showed up here is on me”, the engineer mumbled, clearing her throat when Erin raised an eyebrow at her, “I, uh… was getting quite excited.”

“Not just you”, Erin reassured her, smiling at how Holtzmann immediately went from bashful to beaming at her, “I was enjoying myself quite a bit, too. Actually, I was thinking about continuing where we stopped before we’d tell Sylvia that her ghost has been taken care of.”

“I’d be all for that”, Holtzmann told her, “unprofessional as it might be but… I’m covered in slime.”

“The shower is big enough for two”, Erin reminded her, blushing a bit, “I can help you wash it off. I got a lot of experience with that, you know.”

“How could I say no to that”, the engineer said, coming to her feet; Erin gave her another smile, then followed her into the bathroom, knowing that this time, no ghost would interrupt them.

* * *

Sylvia was more than glad to hear that the ghost had been taken care of, and while Erin and Holtzmann didn’t tell her how exactly they had ended up attracting it to their room, they both suspected that she had a vague idea, since she looked at the way they were holding hands quite curiously; she didn’t make any comment though, but simply thanked them for their help, also on behalf of the manager, reassuring them that the whole staff was glad that the ghost was gone.

During the drive back to Manhattan, Erin marvelled at how the atmosphere had changed, compared to the ride to the hotel; things had been relaxed before, when they had been friends, but were even better now, and when Holtzmann wasn’t making use of the gear stick, she had her hand resting on Erin’s thigh, the physicist feeling her skin tingle even through her pants at the contact.

“So”, she spoke up as they got closer to the firehouse, “do well tell Abby and Patty? And what do we tell them? That we’re… a couple?”

“We could say that the hotel was so romantic, it inspired us”, Holtzmann suggested, smirking at the look Erin shot her, only to grow serious again as she continued, “and, um, I hope I’m not making a fool of myself now but… what we did this morning wasn’t a one time thing for me so…”

“Thank God”, Erin let out, sounding so relieved that Holtzmann gave her a somewhat surprised look, “because it wasn’t for me, either. I’m glad we’re on the same page. And… I think we should tell them, because they will find out sooner or later anyway, and then be angry at us for not telling.”

“Good point”, Holtzmann nodded, making the physicist smile again; and then, Erin made use of a red traffic light by leaning over for a quick, but gentle kiss, marvelling at the fact that she could do this as often as she wanted now, whenever she felt like it.

Still she felt nervous by the time Holtzmann parked the car in front of the firehouse, even though she was certain that Abby and Patty would be happy for them; despite that certainty, she had to take a deep breath as they walked to the front door, holding hands again, her heart hammering quite fast in her chest by the time Holtzmann pushed the door open.

“We’re back!” the engineer announced, making Kevin wave at them from behind his desk before he went back to playing with a rubber band; Abby was the next to spot them, and she beamed – before her gaze fell on their joined hands, and she raised an eyebrow, Erin shrugging when her best friend shot her a questioning look next.

“The hotel was inspiring”, she then said, earning a snort from the engineer; before she could try to add anything though, Abby threw up both fists in triumph, making it her turn to be looked at questioningly as she cried out “yes! It worked!”.

“What do you mean, it worked”, Erin demanded to know; her best friend shrugged, then grinned while Patty came over to see what all the noise was about.

“I rigged the drawing”, Abby freely admitted, Erin gaping at her, “making sure Holtzy and you would go. So you two dorks would finally end up together. And it worked!”

“…it did”, Erin said, while Holtzmann just grinned and shook her head, not having suspected this the slightest, “so… thanks, Abby. It worked really well.”

She pulled Holtzmann close for another tender kiss, making Abby and Patty hoot in delight, smiling against the blonde’s lips at their friends’ joy and at the joy she felt in her own heart, more than glad that Abby had done this and happy that it all had worked out so well.


End file.
